How Peterborough City Council is Supporting More Carers Than Ever
Supporting unpaid carers takes more than having the right tool. People need to know it exists. They need to trust it. They also need to understand how it can help.
That is why supporting unpaid carers is not only about the service itself. It is also about how that service is introduced, explained and shared.
Peterborough City Council has shown this clearly. Through a proactive approach to Bridgit, the number of carers being supported increased by 10% in just a few months.
Peterborough’s approach worked because of a few simple things:
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direct engagement with professionals and carers
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clear explanations of how Bridgit works
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wider outreach beyond digital channels
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accessible content in different languages and formats
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trusted local voices to build confidence
How Peterborough increased support for unpaid carers
Karen Kelley, Strategic Operational Lead for Carers (Adults) at Peterborough City Council, did not rely on passive promotion.
Instead, she focused on direct engagement. She got out and talked about Bridgit in person. That made a real difference. It helped people understand what Bridgit is, how it works and how it can support carers.
Karen explained the approach simply:
“I increased the number of users by getting out and talking about it directly, rather than relying on online promotion alone.”
That direct contact helped build awareness much faster than digital promotion alone.
Building trust with frontline professionals
A key part of the work was making sure professionals felt confident recommending Bridgit.
Karen delivered presentations across health services, GP practices and carer groups. These sessions gave people a clearer picture of the platform and what it could offer carers. Just as importantly, they created space to answer questions and address concerns.
This mattered because some professionals were unsure about AI. However, once they understood that it was there to support their work, not replace it, engagement grew quickly.
Reaching more carers in more ways
Not every carer is online. Not every carer attends support groups. And not every carer follows council updates. So Peterborough widened the reach.
Karen spoke on local radio to connect with carers who may otherwise have been missed. This mattered because some carers will not find support unless services actively go out and meet them where they are. It helped ensure people were not excluded simply because they were not already connected.
Accessibility was also a key part of the approach. Peterborough worked with local community champions to create short, practical videos showing people how to use Bridgit. These were translated into six languages and also produced in British Sign Language.
This was not only about translation. It was about removing barriers and sharing information through trusted voices, in formats that worked for more people. Because of that, the message reached a wider range of carers and communities.
Why this worked and what others can learn
The growth in Peterborough was not accidental. It came down to three simple things: visibility, trust and accessibility.
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Visibility — Bridgit was introduced in the right places.
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Trust — professionals understood it and felt confident recommending it.
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Accessibility — information was shared in ways that reached more people.
When those things came together, uptake increased. The result was a 10% rise in previously unidentified unpaid carers being supported.
Peterborough’s experience shows that increasing uptake is not always about running a bigger campaign. More often, it is about smarter engagement, clear communication and making support easier to access. For councils and services looking to reach more carers, that is a valuable lesson. The tool matters. However, the way it is introduced matters just as much.